JOHN CASSIAN
THE SECOND PART OF THE CONFERENCES OF JOHN CASSIAN
XIII. THE THIRD CONFERENCE OF ABBOT CHAEREMON
ON THE PROTECTION OF GOD

CHAPTER I.

Introduction.

WHEN after a short sleep we returned for morning service and were waiting
for the old man, Abbot Germanus was troubled by great scruples because in the
previous discussion, the force of which had inspired us with the utmost longing
for this chastity which was till now unknown to us, the blessed old man had
by the addition of a single sentence broken down the claims of man's exertions,
adding that man even though he strive with all his might for a good result,
yet cannot become meter of what is good unless he has acquired it simply by
the gift of Divine bounty and not by the efforts of his own toil. While then
we were puzzling over this question the blessed Chaeremon arrived at the cell,
and as he saw that we were whispering together about something, he cut the
service of prayers and Psalms shorter than usual, and asked us what was the
matter.

CHAPTER II.

A question why the merit of good deeds may not be ascribed to the exertions
of the man who does them.

THEN GERMANUS: As we are almost shut out, so to speak, by the greatness of
that splendid virtue, which was described in last night's discussion, from
believing in the possibility of it, so, if you will pardon my saying so, it
seems to us absurd for the reward of our efforts, i.e., perfect chastity, which
is gained by the earnestness of one's own toil, not to be ascribed chiefly
to the exertions of the man who makes the effort. For it is foolish, if, when
for example, we see a husbandman taking the utmost pains over the cultivation
of the ground, we do not ascribe the fruits to his exertions.

CHAPTER III.

The answer that without God's help not only perfect chastity but all good
of every kind cannot be performed.

CHAEREMON:
By this very instance which you bring forward we can still more clearly prove
that the
exertions
of the worker can do nothing without God's
aid. For neither can the husbandman, when he has spent the utmost pains in
cultivating the ground, forthwith ascribe the produce of the crops and the
rich fruits to his own exertions, as he finds that these are often in vain
unless opportune rains and a quiet and calm winter aids them, so that we have
often seen fruits already ripe and set and thoroughly matured snatched as it
were from the hands of those who were grasping them; and their continuous and
earnest efforts were of no use to the workers because they were not under the
guidance of the Lord's assistance. As then the Divine goodness does not grant
these rich crops to idle husbandmen who do not till their fields by frequent
ploughing, so also toil all night long is of no use to the workers unless the
mercy of the Lord prospers it. But herein human pride should never try to put
itself on a level with the grace of God or to intermingle itself with it, so
as to fancy that its own efforts were the cause of Divine bounty, or to boast
that a very plentiful crop of fruits was an answer to the merits of its own
exertions. For a man should consider and with a most careful scrutiny weigh
the fact that he could not by his own strength apply those very efforts which
he has earnestly used in his desire for wealth, unless the Lord's protection
and pity had given him strength for the performance of all agricultural labours;
and that his own will and strength would have been powerless unless Divine
compassion had supplied the means for the completion of them, as they sometimes
fail either from too much or from too little rain. For when vigour has been
granted by the Lord to the oxen, and bodily health and the power to do all
the work, and prosperity in undertakings, still a man must pray lest there
come to him, as Scripture says, "a heaven of brass and an earth of iron," and "the
cankerworm eat what the locust hath left, and the palmerworm eat what the cankerworm
hath left, and the mildew destroys what the palmerworm hath left."(1)
Nor is it only in this that the efforts of the husbandman in his work need
God's help, unless it also averts unlooked for accidents by which, even when
the field is rich with the expected fruitful crops, not only is the man deprived
of what he has vainly hoped and looked for, but actually loses the abundant
fruits which he has already gathered and stored up in the threshing floor or
in the barn. From which we clearly infer that the initiative not only of our
actions but also of good thoughts comes from God, who inspires us with a good
will to begin with, and supplies us with the opportunity of carrying out what
we rightly desire: for "every good gift and every perfect gift cometh
down from above, from the Father of lights,"(2) who both begins what is
good, and continues it and completes it in us, as the Apostle says: "But
He who giveth seed to the sower will both provide bread to eat and will multiply
your seed and make the fruits of your righteousness to increase."(3) But
it is for us, humbly to follow day by day the grace of God which is drawing
us, or else if we resist with "a stiff neck," and (to use the words
of Scripture) "uncircumcised ears,"(4) we shall deserve to hear the
words of Jeremiah: "Shall he that falleth, not rise again? and he that
is turned away, shall he not turn again? Why then is this people in Jerusalem
turned away with a stubborn revolting? They have stiffened their necks and
refused to return."(5)

CHAPTER IV.

An objection, asking how the Gentiles can be said to have chastity without
the grace of God.

GERMANUS: To this explanation, the excellence of which we cannot hastily disprove,
it seems a difficulty that it tends to destroy free will. For as we see that
many of the heathen to whom the assistance of Divine grace has certainly not
been vouchsafed, are eminent not only in the virtues of frugality and patience,
but (which is more remarkable) in that of chastity, how can we think that the
freedom of their will is taken captive and that these virtues are granted to
them by God's gift, especially as in following after the wisdom of this world,
and in their utter ignorance not only of God's grace but even of the existence
of the true God, as we have known Him by the course of our reading and the
teaching of others--they are said to have gained the most perfect purity of
chastity by their own efforts and exertions.

CHAPTER V.

The answer on the imaginary chastity of the philosophers.

CHAEREMON:
I am pleased that, though you are fired with the greatest longing to know
the truth, yet
you bring
forward some foolish points, as by your raising
these objections the value of the Catholic faith may seem better established,
and if I may use the expression, more thoroughly explored. For what wise man
would make such contradictory statements as yesterday to maintain that the
heavenly purity of chastity Could not possibly even by God's grace be bestowed
on any mortals, and now to hold that it was obtained even by the heathen by
their own strength? But as you have certainly, as I said, made these objections
from the desire of getting at the truth, consider what we hold on these points.
First we certainly must not think that the philosophers attained such chastity
of soul, as is required of us, on whom it is enjoined that not fornication
only, but uncleanness be not so much as named among us. But they had a sort
of <greek>merikh</greek>, i.e., some particle of chastity; viz.
continence of the flesh, by which they could restrain their lust from carnal
intercourse: but this internal purity of mind and continual purity of body
they could not attain, I will not say, in act, but even in thought. Finally
Socrates, the most famous of them all, as they themselves esteem him, was not
ashamed to profess this of himself. For when one who judged a man's character
by his looks (<greek>yusiognwmwnn</greek>) looked at him, and said <greek>ommata</greek> <greek>paid</greek> <greek>erastou</greek>,
i.e., "the eyes of a corrupter of boys," and his scholars rushed
at him, and brought him to their master and wanted to avenge the insult, it
is said that he checked their indignation with these words: <greek>pausaoqe</greek>, <greek>etairoi</greek>. <greek>eimi</greek> <greek>gar</greek>, <greek>epekw</greek> <greek>de</greek>,
i.e., Stop, my friends, for I am, but I restrain myself. It is then quite clearly
shown not only by our assertions but actually by their own admissions that
it was only the performance of indecent acts, i.e., the disgrace of intercourse,
that was by force of necessity checked by them, and that the desire and delight
in this passion was not shut out from their hearts. But with what horror must
one bring forward this saying of Diogenes? For a thing which the philosophers
of this world were not ashamed to bring forward as something remarkable, cannot
be spoken or heard by us without shame: for to one to be punished for the crime
of adultery they relate that he said <greek>to</greek> <greek>dwrean</greek> <greek>pwloumenon</greek> <greek>qanatw</greek> <greek>mh</greek> <greek>agoraze</greek>,
i.e., you should not buy with your death what is sold for nothing.(1) It is
clear then that they did not recognize the virtue of the true chastity which
we seek for, and so it is quite certain that our circumcision which is in the
spirit cannot be acquired save only by the gift of God, and that it belongs
only to those who serve God with full contrition of their spirit.

CHAPTER VI.

That without the grace of God we cannot make any diligent efforts.

AND therefore
though in many things, indeed in everything, it can be shown that men always
have need
of God's
help, and that human weakness cannot accomplish
anything that has to do with salvation by itself alone, i.e., without the aid
of God, yet in nothing is this more clearly shown than in the acquisition and
preservation of chastity. For as the discussion on the difficulty of its perfection
is put off for so long, let us meanwhile discourse briefly on the instruments
of it. Who, I ask, could, however fervent he might be in spirit, relying on
his own strength with no praise from men endure the squalor of the desert,
and I will not say the daily lack but the supply of dry bread? Who without
the Lord's consolation, could put up with the continual thirst for water, or
deprive his human eyes of that sweet and delicious morning sleep, and regularly
compress his whole time of rest and repose into the limits of four hours? Who
would be sufficient without God's grace to give continual attendance to reading
and constant earnestness in work, receiving no advantage of present gain? And
all these matters, as we cannot desire them continuously without divine inspiration,
so in no respect whatever can we perform them without His help. And that we
may ensure that these things are not only proved to us by the teaching of experience,
but also made still clearer by sure proof and arguments, does not some weakness
intervene in the case of many things which we wish usefully to perform, and
though the full keenness of our desire and the perfection of our will be not
wanting, yet interfere with the wish we have conceived, so that there is no
carrying out of our purpose, unless the power to perform it has been granted
by the mercy of the Lord, so that, although there are countless swarms of people
who are anxious to stick faithfully to the pursuit of virtue, you can scarcely
find any who are able to carry it out and endure it, to say nothing of the
fact that, even when no weakness at all hinders us, the opportunity for doing
everything that we wish does not lie in our own power. For it is not in our
power to secure the silence of solitude and severe fasts and undisturbed study
even when we could use such opportunities, but by a chapter of accidents we
are often very much against our will kept away from the salutary ordinances
so that we have to pray to the Lord for opportunities of place or time in which
to practise them. And it is clear that the ability for these is not sufficient
for us unless there be also granted to us by the Lord an opportunity of doing
what we are capable of (as the Apostle also says: "For we wanted to come
to you once and again, but Satan hindered us"(1)), so that sometimes we
find for our advantage we are called away from these spiritual exercises in
order that while without our own consent the regularity of our routine is broken
and we yield something to weakness of the flesh, we may even against our will
be brought to a salutary patience. Of which providential arrangement of God
the blessed Apostle says something similar: "For which I besought the
Lord thrice that it might depart from me. And He said to me: My grace is sufficient
for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness:" and again: "For
we know not what to pray for as we ought."(2)

CHAPTER VII.

Of the main purpose of God and His daily Providence.

FOR the
purpose of God whereby He made man not to perish but to live for ever, stands
immovable.
And when
His goodness sees in us even the very smallest spark
of good will shining forth, which He Himself has struck as it were out of the
hard flints of our hearts, He fans and fosters it and nurses it with His breath,
as He "willeth all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth," for as He says, "it is not the will of your Father which
is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish," and again it
says: "Neither will God have a soul to perish, but recalleth," meaning
that he that is cast off should not altogether perish.(3) For He is true, and
lieth not when He lays down with an oath: "As I live, saith the Lord God,
for I will not the death of a sinner, but that he should turn from his way
and live."(4) For if He willeth not that one of His little ones should
perish, how can we imagine without grievous blasphemy that He does not generally
will all men, but only some instead of all to be saved? Those then who perish,
perish against His will, as He testifies against each one of them day by day: "Turn
from your evil ways, and why will ye die, O house of Israel?"(5) And again: "How
often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen gathereth her chickens
under her wings, and ye would not;" and: "Wherefore is this people
in Jerusalem turned away with a stubborn revolting? They have hardened their
faces and refused to return."(6) The grace of Christ then is at hand every
day, which, while it "willeth all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge
of the truth," calleth all without any exception, saying: "Come unto
Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you."(7)
But if He calls not all generally but only some, it follows that not all are
heavy laden either with original or actual sin, and that this saying is not
a true one: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;" nor
can we believe that "death passed on all men."(8) And so far do all
who perish, perish against the will of God, that God cannot be said to have
made death, as Scripture itself testifies: "For God made not death, neither
rejoiceth in the destruction of the living."(9) And hence it comes that
for the most part when instead of good things we ask for the opposite, our
prayer is either heard but tardily or not at all; and again the Lord vouchsafes
to bring upon us even against our will, like some most beneficent physician,
for our good what we think is opposed to it, and sometimes He delays and hinders
our injurious purposes and deadly attempts from having their horrible effects,
and, while we are rushing headlong towards death, draws us back to salvation,
and rescues us without our knowing it from the jaws of hell.

CHAPTER VIII.

Of the grace of God and the freedom of the will.

AND this
care of His and providence with regard to us the Divine word has finely described
by the
prophet Hosea
under the figure of Jerusalem as an harlot,
and inclining with disgraceful eagerness to the worship of idols, where when
she says: "I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread, and my water,
and my wool, and my flax, and my oil, and my drink;" the Divine consideration
replies having regard to her salvation and not to her wishes: "Behold
I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and I will stop it up with a wall, and
she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, and shall
not overtake them: and she shall seek them, and shall not find them, and shall
say: I will return to my first husband, because it was better with me then
than now."(1) And again our obstinacy, and scorn, with which we in our
rebellious spirit disdain Him when He urges us to a salutary return, is described
in the following comparison: He says: "And I said thou shalt call Me Father,
and shalt not cease to walk after Me. But as a woman that despiseth her lover,
so hath the house of Israel despised Me, saith the Lord."(2) Aptly then,
as He has compared Jerusalem to an adulteress forsaking her husband, He compares
His own love and persevering goodness to a man who is dying of love for a woman.
For the goodness and love of God, which He ever shows to mankind,--since it
is overcome by no injuries so as to cease from caring for our salvation, or
be driven from His first intention, as if vanquished by our iniquities,--could
not be more fitly described by any comparison than the case of a man inflamed
with most ardent love for a woman, who is consumed by a more burning passion
for her, the more he sees that he is slighted and despised by her. The Divine
protection then is inseparably present with us, and so great is the kindness
of the Creator towards His creatures, that His Providence not only accompanies
it, but actually constantly precedes it, as the prophet experienced and plainly
confessed, saying: "My God will prevent me with His mercy."(3) And
when He sees in us some beginnings of a good will, He at once enlightens it
and strengthens it and urges it on towards salvation, increasing that which
He Himself implanted or which He sees to have arisen from our own efforts.
For He says "Before they cry, I will hear them: While they are still speaking
I will hear them;" and again: "As soon as He hears the voice of thy
crying, He will answer thee."(4) And in His goodness, not only does He
inspire us with holy desires, but actually creates occasions for life and opportunities
for good results, and shows to those in error the direction of the way of salvation.

CHAPTER IX.

Of the power of our good will, and the grace of God.

WHENCE
human reason cannot easily decide how the Lord gives to those that ask, is
found by those that
seek,
and opens to those that knock, and on the
other hand is found by those that sought Him not, appears openly among those
who asked not for Him, and all the day long stretches forth His hands to an
unbelieving and gainsaying people, calls those who resist and stand afar off,
draws men against their will to salvation, takes away from those who want to
sin the faculty of carrying out their desire, in His goodness stands in the
way of those who are rushing into wickedness. But who can easily see how it
is that the completion of our salvation is assigned to our own will, of which
it is said: "If ye be willing, and hearken unto Me, ye shall eat the good
things of the land,"(5) and how it is "not of him that willeth or
runneth, but of God that hath mercy?"(6) What too is this, that God "will
render to every man according to his works;"(7) and "it is God who
worketh in you both to will and to do, of His good pleasure;"(8) and "this
is not of yourselves but it is the gift of God: not of works, that no man may
boast?"(9) What is this too which is said: "Draw near to the Lord,
and He will draw near to you,"(10) and what He says elsewhere: "No
man cometh unto Me except the Father who sent Me draw Him?"(11) What is
it that we find: "Make straight paths for your feet and direct your ways,"(12)
and what is it that we say in our prayers: "Direct my way in Thy sight," and "establish
my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps be not moved?"(13) What is it
again that we are admonished: "Make you a new heart and a new spirit,"(14)
and what is this which is promised to us: "I will give them one heart
and will put a new spirit within them:" and "I will take away the
stony heart from their flesh and will give them an heart of flesh that they
may walk in Thy statutes and keep My judgments?"(1) What is it that the
Lord commands, where He says: "Wash thine heart of iniquity, O Jerusalem,
that thou mayest be saved,"(2) and what is it that the prophet asks for
from the Lord, when he says "Create in me a clean heart, O God," and
again: "Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow?"(3)
What is it that is said to us: "Enlighten yourselves with the light of
knowledge;"(4) and this which is said of God: "Who teacheth man knowledge;"(5)
and: "the Lord enlightens the blind,"(6) or at any rate this, which
we say in our prayers with the prophet: "Lighten mine eyes that I sleep
not in death,"(7) unless m all these there is a declaration of the grace
of God and the freedom of our will, because even of his own motion a man can
be led to the quest of virtue, but always stands in need of the help of the
Lord? For neither does anyone enjoy good health whenever he will, nor is he
at his own will and pleasure set free from disease and sickness. But what good
is it to have desired the blessing of health, unless God, who grants us the
enjoyments of life itself, grant also vigorous and sound health? But that it
may be still clearer that through the excellence of nature which is granted
by the goodness of the Creator, sometimes first beginnings of a good will arise,
which however cannot attain to the complete performance of what is good unless
it is guided by the Lord, the Apostle bears witness and says: "For to
will is present with me, but to perform what is good I find not."(8)

CHAPTER X.

On the weakness of free will.

For Holy
Scripture supports the freedom of the will where it says: "Keep
thy heart with all diligence,"(9) but the Apostle indicates its weakness
by saying "The Lord keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."(10)
David asserts the power of free will, where he says "I have inclined my
heart to do Thy righteous acts,"(11) but the same man in like manner teaches
us its weakness, by praying and saying, "Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies
and not to covetousness:"(12) Solomon also: "The Lord incline our
hearts unto Himself that we may walk in all His ways and keep His commandments,
and ordinances and judgments."(13) The Psalmist denotes the power of our
will, where he says: "Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they
speak no guile,"(14) our prayer testifies to its weakness, when we say: "O
Lord, set a watch before my mouth, and keep the door of my lips."(15)
The importance of our will is maintained by the Lord, when we find "Break
the chains of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion:"(16) of its weakness
the prophet sings, when he says: "The Lord looseth them that are bound:" and "Thou
hast broken my chains: To Thee will I offer the sacrifice of praise."(17)
We hear in the gospel the Lord summoning us to come speedily to Him by our
free will: "Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will refresh you,"(18) but the same Lord testifies to its weakness, by
saying: "No man can come unto Me except the Father which sent Me draw
him."(19) The Apostle indicates our free will by saying: "So run
that ye may obtain:"(20) but to its weakness John Baptist bears witness
where he says: "No man can receive anything of himself, except it be given
him from above."(21) We are commanded to keep our souls with all care,
when the Prophet says: "Keep your souls,"(22) but by the same spirit
another Prophet proclaims: "Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman
waketh but in vain."(23) The Apostle writing to the Philippians, to show
that their will is free, says "Work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling," but to point out its weakness, he adds: "For it is God
that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."(24)

CHAPTER XI.

Whether the grace of God precedes or follows our good will.

And so
these are somehow mixed up and indiscriminately confused, so that among many
persons, which
depends
on the other is involved in great questionings,
i.e., does God have compassion upon us because we have shown the beginning
of a good will, or does the beginning of a good will follow because God has
had compassion upon us? For many believing each of these and asserting them
more widely than is right are entangled in all kinds of opposite errors. For
if we say that the beginning of free will is in our own power, what about Paul
the persecutor, what about Matthew the publican, of whom the one was drawn
to salvation while eager for bloodshed and the punishment of the innocent,
the other for violence and rapine? But if we say that the beginning of our
free will is always due to the inspiration of the grace of God, what about
the faith of Zaccheus, or what are we to say of the goodness of the thief on
the cross, who by their own desires brought violence to bear on the kingdom
of heaven and so prevented the special leadings of their vocation? But if we
attribute the performance of virtuous acts, and the execution of God's commands
to our own will, how do we pray: "Strengthen, O God, what Thou hast wrought
in us;" and "The work of our hands stablish Thou upon us?"(1)
We know that Balaam was brought to curse Israel, but we see that when he wished
to curse he was not permitted to. Abimelech is preserved from touching Rebecca
and so sinning against God. Joseph is sold by the envy of his brethren, in
order to bring about the descent of the children of Israel into Egypt, and
that while they were contemplating the death of their brother provision might
be made for them against the famine to come: as Joseph shows when he makes
himSelf known to his brethren and says: "Fear not, neither let it be grievous
unto you that ye sold me into these parts: for for your salvation God sent
me before you;" and below: "For God sent me before that ye might
be preserved upon the earth and might have food whereby to live. Not by your
design was I sent but by the will of God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh
and lord of all his house, and chief over all the land of Egypt." And
when his brethren were alarmed after the death of his father, he removed their
suspicions and terror by saying: "Fear not: Can ye resist the will of
God? You imagined evil against me but God turned it into good, that He might
exalt me, as ye see at the present time, that He might save much people."(2)
And that this was brought about providentially the blessed David likewise declared
saying in the hundred and fourth Psalm: "And He called for a dearth upon
the land: and brake all the staff of bread. He sent a man before them: Joseph
was sold for a slave."(3) These two then; viz., the grace of God and free
will seem opposed to each other, but really are in harmony, and we gather from
the system of goodness that we ought to have both alike, lest if we withdraw
one of them from man, we may seem to have broken the rule of the Church's faith:
for when God sees us inclined to will what is good, He meets, guides, and strengthens
us: for "At the voice of thy cry, as soon as He shall hear, He will answer
thee;" and: "Call upon Me," He says, "in the day of tribulation
and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me."(4) And again, if
He finds that we are unwilling or have grown cold, He stirs our hearts with
salutary exhortations, by which a good will is either renewed or formed in
us.

CHAPTER XII.

That a good will should not always be attributed to grace, nor always to man
himself.

For we
should not hold that God made man such that he can never will or be capable
of what is good:
or else
He has not granted him a free will, if He
has suffered him only to will or be capable of evil, but neither to will or
be capable of what is good of himself. And, in this case how will that first
statement of the Lord made about men after the fall stand: "Behold, Adam
is become as one of us, knowing good and evil?"(5) For we cannot think
that before, he was such as to be altogether ignorant of good. Otherwise we
should have to admit that he was formed like some irrational and insensate
beast: which is sufficiently absurd and altogether alien from the Catholic
faith. Moreover as the wisest Solomon says: "God made man upright," i.e.,
always to enjoy the knowledge of good only, "But they have sought out
many imaginations,"(6) for they came, as has been said, to know good and
evil. Adam therefore after the fall conceived a knowledge of evil which he
had not previously, but did not lose the knowledge of good which he had before.
Finally the Apostle's words very clearly show that mankind did not lose after
the fall of Adam the knowledge of good: as he says: "For when the Gentiles,
which have not the law, do by nature the things of the law, these, though they
have not the law, are a law to themselves, as they show the work of the law
written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness to these, and their
thoughts within them either accusing or else excusing them, in the day in which
God shall judge the secrets of men."(7) And with the same meaning the
Lord rebukes by the prophet the unnatural but freely chosen blindness of the
Jews, which they by their obstinacy brought upon themselves, saying: "Hear
ye deaf, and ye blind, behold that you may see. Who is deaf but My servant?
and blind, but he to whom I have sent My messengers?"(1) And that no one
might ascribe this blindness of theirs to nature instead of to their own will,
elsewhere He says: "Bring forth the people that are blind and have eyes:
that are deaf and have ears;" and again: "having eyes, but ye see
not; and ears, but ye hear not."(2) The Lord also says in the gospel: "Because
seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not neither do they understand."(3)
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: "Hearing ye
shall hear and shall not understand: and seeing ye shall see and shall not
see. For the heart of this people is waxed fat, and their ears are dull of
hearing: and they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears and understand with their heart, and be turned and
I should heal them."(4) Finally in order to denote that the possibility
of good was in them, in chiding the Pharisees, He says: "But why of your
own selves do ye not judge what is right?"(5) And this he certainly would
not have said to them, unless He knew that by their natural judgment they could
discern what was fair. Wherefore we must take care not to refer all the merits
of the saints to the Lord in such a way as to ascribe nothing but what is evil
and perverse to human nature: in doing which we are confuted by the evidence
of the most wise Solomon, or rather of the Lord Himself, Whose words these
are; for when the building of the Temple was finished and he was praying, he
spoke as follows: "And David my father would have built a house to the
name of the Lord God of Israel: and the Lord said to David my father: Whereas
thou hast thought in thine heart to build a house to My name, thou hast well
done in having this same thing in thy mind. Nevertheless thou shall not build
a house to My name."(6) This thought then and this purpose of king David,
are we to call it good and from God or bad and from man? For if that thought
was good and from God, why did He by whom it was inspired refuse that it should
be carried into effect? But if it is bad and from man, why is it praised by
the Lord? It remains then that we must take it as good and from man. And in
the same way we can take our own thoughts today. For it was not given only
to David to think what is good of himself, nor is it denied to us naturally
to think or imagine anything that is good. It cannot then be doubted that there
are by nature some seeds of goodness in every soul implanted by the kindness
of the Creator: but unless these are quickened by the assistance of God, they
will not be able to attain to an increase of perfection, for, as the blessed
Apostle says: "Neither is he that planteth anything nor he that watereth,
but God that giveth the increase."(7) But that freedom of the will is
to some degree in a man's own power is very clearly taught in the book termed
the Pastor,(8) where two angels are said to be attached to each one of us,
i.e., a good and a bad one, while it lies at a man's own option to choose which
to follow. And therefore the will always remains free in man, and can either
neglect or delight in the grace of God. For the Apostle would not have commanded
saying: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling," had
he not known that it could be advanced or neglected by us. But that men might
not fancy that they had no need of Divine aid for the work of Salvation, he
subjoins: "For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do, of
His good pleasure."(9) And therefore he warns Timothy and says: "Neglect
not the grace of God which is in thee;" and again: "For which cause
I exhort thee to stir up the grace of God which is in thee."(10) Hence
also in writing to the Corinthians he exhorts and warns them not through their
unfruitful works to show themselves unworthy of the grace of God, saying: "And
we helping, exhort you that ye receive not the grace of God in vain:"(11)
for the reception of saving grace was of no profit to Simon doubtless because
he had received it in vain; for he would not obey the command of the blessed
Peter who said: "Repent of thine iniquity, and pray God if haply the thoughts
of thine heart may be forgiven thee; for I perceive that thou art in the gall
of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity."(12) It prevents therefore the
will of man, for it is said: "My God will prevent me with His mercy;"(13)
and again when God waits and for our good delays, that He may put our desires
to the test, our will precedes, for it is said: "And in the morning my
prayer shall prevent Thee;" and again: "I prevented the dawning of
the day and cried;" and: "Mine eyes have prevented the morning."(14)
For He calls and invites us, when He says: "All the day long I stretched
forth My hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people;"(15) and He is
invited by us when we say to Him: "All the day long I have stretched forth
My hands unto Thee"(16) He waits for us, when it is said by the prophet: "Wherefore
the Lord waiteth to have compassion upon us;"(1) and He is waited for
by us, when we say: "I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined
unto me;" and: "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord."(2)
He strengthens us when He says: "And I have chastised them, and strengthened
their arms; and they have imagined evil against me;"(3) and He exhorts
us to strengthen ourselves when He says: "Strengthen ye the weak hands,
and make strong the feeble knees."(4) Jesus cries: "If any man thirst
let him come unto Me and drink;"(5) the prophet also cries to Him: "I
have laboured with crying, my jaws are become hoarse: mine eyes have failed,
whilst I hope in my God."(6) The Lord seeks us, when He says: "I
sought and there was no man. I called, and there was none to answer;"(7)
and He Himself is sought by the bride who mourns with tears: "I sought
on my bed by night Him whom my soul loved: I sought Him and found Him not;
I called Him, and He gave me no answer."(8)

CHAPTER XIII.

How human efforts cannot be set against the grace of God.

And so
the grace of God always co-operates with our will for its advantage, and
in all things assists,
protects,
and defends it, in such a way as sometimes
even to require and look for some efforts of good will from it that it may
not appear to confer its gifts on one who is asleep or relaxed in sluggish
ease, as it seeks opportunities to show that as the torpor of man's sluggishness
is shaken off its bounty is not unreasonable, when it bestows it on account
of some desire and efforts to gain it. And none the less does God's grace continue
to be free grace while in return for some small and trivial efforts it bestows
with priceless bounty such glory of immortality, and such gifts of eternal
bliss. For because the faith of the thief on the cross came as the first thing,
no one would say that therefore the blessed abode of Paradise was not promised
to him as a free gift, nor could we hold that it was the penitence of King
David's single word which he uttered: "I have sinned against the Lord," and
not rather the mercy of God which removed those two grievous sins of his, so
that it was vouchsafed to him to hear from the prophet Nathan: "The Lord
also hath put away thine iniquity: thou shalt not die."(9) The fact then
that he added murder to adultery, was certainly due to free will: but that
he was reproved by the prophet, this was the grace of Divine Compassion. Again
it was his own doing that he was humbled and acknowledged his guilt; but that
in a very short interval of time he was granted pardon for such sins, this
was the gift of the merciful Lord. And what shall we say of this brief confession
and of the incomparable infinity of Divine reward, when it is easy to see what
the blessed Apostle, as he fixes his gaze on the greatness of future remuneration,
announced on those countless persecutions of his? "for," says he, "our
light affliction which is but for a moment worketh in us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory,"(10) of which elsewhere he constantly affirms,
saying that "the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the future glory which shall be revealed in us."(11) However
much then human weakness may strive, it cannot come up to the future reward,
nor by its efforts so take off from Divine grace that it should not always
remain a free gift. And therefore the aforesaid teacher of the Gentiles, though
he bears his witness that he had obtained the grade of the Apostolate by the
grace of God, saying: "By the grace of God I am what I am," yet also
declares that he himself had corresponded to Divine Grace, where he says: "And
His Grace in me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all:
and yet not I, but the Grace of God with me."(12) For when he says: "I
laboured," he shows the effort of his own will; when he says: "yet
not I, but the grace of God," he points out the value of Divine protection;
when he says: "with me," he affirms that it cooperates with him when
he was not idle or careless, but working and making an effort.

CHAPTER XIV.

How God makes trial of the strength of man's will by means of his temptations.

And this
too we read that the Divine righteousness provided for in the case of Job
His well tried athlete,
when
the devil had challenged him to single
combat. For if he had advanced against his foe, not with his own strength,
but solely with the protection of God's grace; and, supported only by Divine
aid without any virtue of patience on his own part, had borne that manifold
weight of temptations and losses, contrived with all the cruelty of his foe,
how would the devil have repeated with some justice that slanderous speech
which he had previously uttered: "Doth Job serve God for nought? Hast
Thou not hedged him in, and all his substance round about? but take away thine
hand," i.e., allow him to fight with me in his own strength, "and
he will curse Thee to Thy face."(1) But as after the struggle the slanderous
foe dare not give vent to any such murmur as this, he admired that he was vanquished
by his strength and not by that of God; although too we must not hold that
the grace of God was altogether wanting to him, which gave to the tempter a
power of tempting in proportion to that which it knew that he had of resisting,
without protecting him from his attacks in such a way as to leave no room for
human virtue, but only providing for this; viz., that the most fierce foe should
not drive him out of his mind and overwhelm him when weakened, with unequal
thoughts and in an unfair contest. But that the Lord is sometimes wont to tempt
our faith that it maybe made stronger and more glorious, we are taught by the
example of the centurion in the gospel, in whose case though the Lord knew
that He would cure his servant by the power of His word, yet He chose to offer
His bodily presence, saying: "I will come and heal him:" but when
the centurion overcame this offer of His by the ardour of still more fervent
faith, and said: "Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under
my roof: but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed," the
Lord marvelled at him and praised him, and put him before all those of the
people of Israel who had believed, saying: "Verily, I say unto you, I
have not found so great faith in Israel."(2) For there would have been
no ground for praise or merit, if Christ had only preferred in him what He
Himself had given. And this searching trial of faith we read that the Divine
righteousness brought about also in the case of the grandest of the patriarchs;
where it is said: "And it came to pass after these things that God did
tempt Abraham."(3) For the Divine righteousness wished to try not that
faith with which the Lord had inspired him, but that which when called and
enlightened by the Lord he could show forth by his own free will. Wherefore
the firmness of his faith was not without reason proved, and when the grace
of God, which had for a while left him to prove him, came to his aid, it was
said: "Lay not thine hand on the lad, and do nothing unto him: for now
I know that thou fearest the Lord, and for my sake hast not spared thy beloved
son."(4) And that this kind of temptation can befall us, for the sake
of proving us, is sufficiently clearly foretold by the giver of the Law in
Deuteronomy: "If there rise in the midst of you a prophet or one that
saith he hath seen a dream, and foretell a sign and wonder; and that come to
pass which he spoke, and he say to thee: Let us go and serve strange gods which
ye know not, thou shalt not hear the words of that prophet or dreamer; for
the Lord your God surely trieth thee, whether thou lovest Him with all thine
heart, and keepest His Commandments, or no."(5) What then follows? When
God has permitted that prophet or dreamer to arise, must we hold that He will
protect those whose faith He is purposing to try, in such a way as to leave
no place for their own free will, where they can fight with the tempter with
their own strength? And why is it necessary for them even to be tried if He
knows them to be so weak and feeble as not to be able by their own power to
resist the tempter? But certainly the Divine righteousness would not have permitted
them to be tempted, unless it knew that there was within them an equal power
of resistance, by which they could by an equitable judgment be found in either
result either guilty or worthy of praise. To the same effect also is this which
the Apostle says: "Therefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed
lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man.
But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are
able, but will with the temptation make also a way of escape that ye may be
able to bear it."(6) For when he says "Let him that standeth take
heed lest he fall" he sets free will on its guard, as he certainly knew
that, after grace had been received, it could either stand by its exertions
or fall through carelessness. But when he adds: "there hath no temptation
taken you but what is common to man" he chides their weakness and the
frailty of their heart that is not yet strengthened, as they could not yet
resist the attacks of the hosts of spiritual wickedness, against which he knew
that he and those who were perfect daily fought; of which also he says to the
Ephesians: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against spiritual
wickedness in heavenly places."(7) But when he subjoins: "But God
is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able," he
certainly is not hoping that the Lord will not suffer them to be tempted, but
that they may not be tempted above what they are able to bear. For the one
shows the power of man's will, the other denotes the grace of the Lord who
moderates the violence of temptations. In all these phrases then there is proof
that Divine grace ever stirs up the will of man, not so as to protect and defend
it in all things in such a way as to cause it not to fight by its own efforts
against its spiritual adversaries, the victor over whom may set it down to
God's grace, and the vanquished to his own weakness, and thus learn that his
hope is always not in his own courage but in the Divine assistance, and that
he must ever fly to his Protector. And to prove this not by our own conjecture
but by still clearer passages of Holy Scripture let us consider what we read
in Joshuah the son of Nun: "The Lord," it says, "left these
nations and would not destroy them, that by them He might try Israel, whether
they would keep the commandments of the Lord their God, and that they might
learn to fight with their enemies."(1) And if we may illustrate the incomparable
mercy of our Creator from something earthly, not as being equal in kindness,
but as an illustration of mercy: if a tender and anxious nurse carries an infant
in her bosom for a long time in order sometime to teach it to walk, and first
allows it to crawl, then supports it that by the aid of her right hand it may
lean on its alternate steps, presently leaves it for a little and if she sees
it tottering at all, catches hold of it, and grabs at it when falling, when
down picks it up, and either shields it from a fall, or allows it to fall lightly,
and sets it up again after a tumble, but when she has brought it up to boyhood
or the strength of youth or early manhood, lays upon it some burdens or labours
by which it may be not overwhelmed but exercised, and allows it to vie with
those of its own age; how much more does the heavenly Father of all know whom
to carry in the bosom of His grace, whom to train to virtue in His sight by
the exercise of free will, and yet He helps him in his efforts, hears him when
he calls, leaves him not when he seeks Him, and sometimes snatches him from
peril even without his knowing it.

CHAPTER XV.

Of the manifold grace of men's calls.

And by
this it is clearly shown that God's "judgments are inscrutable
and His ways past finding out,"(2) by which He draws mankind to salvation.
And this too we can prove by the instances of calls in the gospels. For He
chose Andrew and Peter and the rest of the apostles by the free compassion
of His grace when they were thinking nothing of their healing and salvation.
Zacchaeus, when in his faithfulness he was struggling to see the Lord, and
making up for his littleness of stature by the height of the sycamore tree,
He not only received, but actually honoured by the blessing of His dwelling
with him. Paul even against his will and resisting He drew to Him. Another
He charged to cleave to Him so closely that when he asked for the shortest
possible delay in order to bury his father He did not grant it. To Cornelius
when constantly attending to prayers and alms the way of salvation was shown
by way of recompense, and by the visitation of an angel he was bidden to summon
Peter, and learn from him the words of salvation, whereby he might be saved
with all his. And so the manifold wisdom of God grants with manifold and inscrutable
kindness salvation to men; and imparts to each one according to his capacity
the grace of His bounty, so that He wills to grant His healing not according
to the uniform power of His Majesty but according to the measure of the faith
in which He finds each one, or as He Himself has imparted it to each one. For
when one believed that for the cure of his leprosy the will of Christ alone
was sufficient He healed him by the simple consent of His will, saying: "I
will, be thou clean."(3) When another prayed that He would come and raise
his dead daughter by laying His hands on her, He entered his house as he had
hoped, and granted what was asked of Him. When another believed that what was
essential for his salvation depended on His command, and answered: "Speak
the word only, and my servant shall be healed,"(4) He restored to their
former strength the limbs that were relaxed, by the power of a word, saying: "Go
thy way, and as thou hast believed so be it unto thee."(5) To others hoping
for restoration from the touch of His hem, He granted rich gifts of healing.
To some, when asked, He bestowed remedies for their diseases. To others He
afforded the means of healing unasked: others He urged on to hope, saying: "Willest
thou to be made whole?"(6) to others when they were without hope He brought
help spontaneously. The desires of some He searched out before satisfying their
wants, saying: "What will ye that I should do for you?"(7) To another
who knew not the way to obtain what he desired, He showed it in His kindness,
saying: "If thou believest thou shalt see the glory of God."(8) Among
some so richly did He pour forth the mighty works of His cures that of them
the Evangelist says' "And He healed all their sick."(1)But among
others the unfathomable depth of Christ's beneficence was so stopped up, that
it was said: "And Jesus could do there no mighty works because of their
unbelief."(2) And so the bounty of God is actually shaped according to
the capacity of man's faith, so that to one it is said:" According to
thy faith be it unto thee:"(3) and to another: "Go thy way, and as
thou hast believed so be it unto thee;"(4) to another "Be it unto
thee according as thou wilt,"(5) and again to another: "Thy faith
hath made thee whole."(6)

CHAPTER XVI.

Of the Face of God; to the effect that it transcends the narrow limits of
human faith.

BUT let
no one imagine that we have brought forward these instances to try to make
out that the
chief share
in our salvation rests with our faith, according
to the profane notion of some who attribute everything to free will and lay
down that the grace of God is dispensed in accordance with the desert of each
man: but we plainly assert our unconditional opinion that the grace of God
is superabounding, and sometimes overflows the narrow limits of man's lack
of faith. And this, as we remember, happened in the case of the ruler in the
gospel, who, as he believed that it was an easier thing for his son to be cured
when sick than to be raised when dead, implored the Lord to come at once, saying: "Lord,
come down ere my child die;" and though Christ reproved his lack of faith
with these words: "Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe," yet
He did not manifest the grace of His Divinity in proportion to the weakness
of his faith, nor did He expell the deadly disease of the fever by His bodily
presence, as the man believed he would, but by the word of His power, saying: "Go
thy way, thy son liveth."(7) And we read also that the Lord poured forth
this superabundance of grace in the case of the cure of the paralytic, when,
though he only asked for the healing of the weakness by which his body was
enervated, He first brought health to the soul by sating: "Son, be of
good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee." After which, when the scribes
did not believe that He could forgive men's sins, in order to confound their
incredulity, He set free by the power of His word the man's limb, and put an
end to his disease of paralysis, by saying: "Why think ye evil in. your
hearts? Whether is easier to say, thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, arise
and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive
sins, then saith He to the sick of the palsy: Arise, take up thy bed, and go
unto thine house."(8) And in the same way in the case of the man who had
been lying for thirty-eight years near the edge of the pool, and hoping for
a cure from the moving of the water, He showed the princely character of His
bounty unasked. For when in His wish to arouse him for the saving remedy, He
had said to him: "wiliest thou to be made whole," and when the man
complained of his lack of human assistance and said: "I have no man to
put me into the pool when the water is troubled," the Lord in His pity
granted pardon to his unbelief and ignorance, and restored him to his former
health, not in the way which he expected, but in the way which He Himself willed,
saying: "Arise, take up thy bed and go unto thine house."(9) And
what wonder if these acts are told of the Lord's power, when Divine grace has
actually wrought similar works by means of His servants! For when Peter and
John were entering the temple, when the man who was lame from his mother's
womb and had no idea how to walk, asked an alms, they gave him not the miserable
coppers which the sick man asked for, but the power to walk, and when he was
only expecting the smallest of gifts to console him, enriched him with the
prize of unlooked for health, as Peter said: "Silver and gold have I none:
but such as I have, give I unto thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
rise up and walk."(10)

CHAPTER XVII.

Of the inscrutable providence of God.

BY those
instances then which we have brought forward from the gospel records we can
very clearly
perceive
that God brings salvation to mankind in diverse
and innumerable methods and inscrutable ways, and that He stirs up the course
of some, who are already wanting it, and thirsting for it, to greater zeal,
while He forces some even against their will, and resisting. And that at one
time He gives his assistance for the fulfilment of those things which he sees
that we desire for our good, while at another time He puts into us the very
beginnings of holy desire, and grants both the commencement of a good work
and perseverance in it. Hence it comes that in our prayers we proclaim God
as not only our Protector and Saviour, but actually as our Helper and Sponsor.
For whereas He first calls us to Him, and while we are still ignorant and unwilling,
draws us towards salvation, He is our Protector and Saviour, but whereas when
we are already striving, He is wont to bring us help, and to receive and defend
those who fly to Him for refuge, He is termed our Sponsor and Refuge. Finally
the blessed Apostle when revolving in his mind this manifold bounty of God's
providence, as he sees that he has fallen into some vast and boundless ocean
of God's goodness, exclaims: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom
and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are the judgments of God and His ways
past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord?"(1) Whoever
then imagines that he can by human reason fathom the depths of that inconceivable
abyss, will be trying to explain away the astonishment at that knowledge, at
which that great and mighty teacher of the gentiles was awed. For if a man
thinks that he can either conceive in his mind or discuss exhaustively the
dispensation of God whereby He works salvation in men, he certainly impugns
the truth of the Apostle's words and asserts with profane audacity that His
judgments can be scrutinized, and His ways searched out. This providence and
love of God therefore, which the Lord in His unwearied goodness vouchsafes
to show us, He compares to the tenderest heart of a kind mother, as He wishes
to express it by a figure of human affection, and finds in His creatures no
such feeling of love, to which he could better compare it. And He uses this
example, because nothing dearer can be found in human nature, saying: "Can
a mother forget her child, that she should not have compassion on the son of
her womb?" But not content with this comparison He at once goes beyond
it, and subjoins these words: "And though she may forget, yet will not
I forget thee."(2)

CHAPTER XVIII.

The decision of the fathers that free will is not equal to save a man.

AND from
this it is clearly gathered by those who, led not by chattering words but
by experience, measure
the
magnitude of grace, and the paltry limits of
man's will, that "the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong,
nor food to the wise, nor riches to the prudent, nor grace to the learned," but
that "all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to
every man severally as He will."(8) And therefore it is proved by no doubtful
faith but by experience which can (so to speak) be laid hold of, that God the
Father of all things worketh indifferently all things in all, as the Apostle
says, like some most kind father and most benign physician; and that now He
puts into us the very beginnings of salvation, and gives to each the zeal of
his free will; and now grants the carrying out of the work, and the perfecting
of goodness; and now saves men, even against their will and without their knowledge,
from ruin that is close at hand, and a headlong fall; and now affords them
occasions and opportunities of salvation, and wards off headlong and violent
attacks from purposes that would bring death; and assists some who are already
willing and running, while He draws others who are unwilling and resisting,
and forces them to a good will. But that, when we do not always resist or remain
persistently unwilling, everything is granted to us by God, and that the main
share in our salvation is to be ascribed not to the merit of our own works
but to heavenly grace, we are thus taught by the words of the Lord Himself: "And
you shall remember your ways and all your wicked doings with which you have
been defiled; and you shall be displeased with yourselves in your own sight
for all your wicked deeds which you have committed. And you shall know that
I am the Lord, when I shall have done well by you for My own name's sake, not
according to your evil ways, nor according to your wicked deeds, O house of
Israel."(4) And therefore it is laid down by all the Catholic fathers
who have taught perfection of heart not by empty disputes of words, but in
deed and act, that the first stage in the Divine gift is for each man to be
inflamed with the desire of everything that is good, but in such a way that
the choice of free will is open to either side: and that the second stage in
Divine grace is for the aforesaid practices of virtue to be able to be performed,
but in such a way that the possibilities of the will are not destroyed: the
third stage also belongs to the gifts of God, so that it may be held by the
persistence of the goodness already acquired, and in such a way that the liberty
may not be surrendered and experience bondage. For the God of all must be held
to work in all, so as to incite, protect, and strengthen, but not to take away
the freedom of the will which He Himself has once given. If however any more
subtle inference of man's argumentation and reasoning seems opposed to this
interpretation, it should be avoided rather than brought forward to the destruction
of the faith (for we gain not faith from understanding, but understanding from
faith, as it is written: "Except ye believe, ye will not understand"(1))
for how God works all things in us and yet everything can be ascribed to free
will, cannot be fully grasped by the mind and reason of man.

Strengthened by this food the blessed Chaeremon prevented us from feeling
the toil of so difficult a journey.